# 1777
Thanks to the Revere's of Effect Measure for highlighting this report by Maryn McKenna, on the failures of this year's flu season.
I've just included the opening few paragraphs, by all means read the entire article.
Hectic season exposes gaps in flu preparedness
Maryn McKenna
Contributing Writer
Mar 10, 2008 (CIDRAP News) – Friday's announcement by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that influenza appears to be slowing down has left medical personnel relieved for the imminent end of a harsh flu season.
But it has also left them worried over weaknesses that the season exposed in public health's ability to anticipate flu's behavior, and over doubts raised among their patients by the flu vaccine's diminished effectiveness.
Many are concerned as well for what the bad season demonstrates about the healthcare system's lack of surge capacity, and for the lack of nimbleness in the vaccine-production system that forced distribution of a suboptimal vaccine.
Emergency departments overcrowded
The CDC has not floated any adjectives to describe this year's flu season, though the agency said Friday that 47 out of 51 jurisdictions (the states plus Washington, DC) are experiencing "widespread" flu—two fewer than the week before.
But to the dozen family and emergency physicians who spoke to CIDRAP last week, "widespread" does not begin to capture their flu season experience. "Severe" and "slammed" are more like it.
"In four weeks, we went from a ho-hum flu season to ridiculous overcrowding," said Dr. Maurice Ramirez, an emergency physician who works in several institutions in north Florida. "We have had so many people that we have them, not in beds in the hallway, but in chairs with a number taped to the wall over their heads."
Maryn McKenna is the award winning author of Beating Back The Devil, a frequent contributor to CIDRAP, and a blogger as well.
